Backers push for minimum wage increase within Oakland County, Michigan

By
John Turk, The Oakland Press

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Oakland County subcontractor Jason Lewis makes nearly double the Michigan minimum wage of $7.40 an hour, but says he still has a hard enough time making ends meet.

He thinks minimum wage should be increased.

“I don’t know how people could do that,” Lewis said of workers who make the minimum. “Especially around Detroit, with the city being broke.

“Think about it. I mean, even car insurance, car payments — to own a car is like owning a house nowadays ... I can barely make it, and I do make $14.”

Lewis, a 23-year-old contractor with Hazel Park-based Dan’s Restoration, is just one of many in the discussion on whether minimum wages should be increased in Michigan.

Democrat Mark Schauer, 2014 gubernatorial candidate, recently said he would increase the minimum wage to $9.25 an hour by 2016 if he’s elected. And last week, Oakland County Commissioner Dave Woodward, D-Royal Oak, proposed a resolution to raise the wages to $10 per hour for county employees — both full-time and contracted workers — for the next three years.

While the resolution was referred to the Commission’s human resources committee, Woodward said momentum within the state to push through a wage hike has mounted in recent months, and now, “leadership falls on counties and local municipalities to push the ball down the court.”

Leaders weren’t the only force behind the discourse.

Tuesday, a group called Low Pay Is Not OK distributed a spoof video making fun of McDonald’s resources website — called “McResources” — and saying the corporation gives unorthodox tips to its employees working for a minimum wage salary. Tips included suggestions to take two vacations a year to reduce the risk of heart attack, to sing along to songs to reduce blood pressure and breaking food into pieces to eat less and feel full.

McDonald’s spokeswoman Linda McComb said the McResource website has helped countless employees by providing them with a variety of information and resources on topics ranging from health and wellness to stress and financial management.

“The content for the site was provided by an independent work-life, health and wellness company and we will be working with them to review the content and make any necessary adjustments to the information to make sure that it stays a trusted, accurate and useful tool for employees who choose to use it,” said McComb.

Just three months prior, fast food and retail workers across the nation called for a 60-city movement called the “D15 Campaign” — encouraging low-wage employees to walk out of their workplaces. Around 300 people demonstrated Aug. 29 in front of fast food restaurants across metro Detroit holding red signs above their heads with the words “Strike for 15” — demanding to be paid $15 per hour, the right to form unions without retaliation and the end to unfair labor practices.

Oakland’s Woodward said he believes his resolution and other efforts to raise the minimum wage demonstrates that the current wage is “woefully inadequate, and we need to raise it so that working people can afford life’s necessities.”

According to the Michigan League for Public Policy, 85 percent of minimum wage employees are over age 20, 55 percent are women, and 44 percent are working full-time. Raising the minimum wage would impact more than 1 million Michigan workers. At $7.40 per hour, an average full-time worker makes just $15,392 annually.

Woodward’s resolution and Schauer’s proposal agree that the federal minimum wage has lost 30 percent of its purchasing power in recent decades.

Language in Woodward’s resolution states If minimum wage had kept pace with the cost of living since 1968, it would now equal $10.56. Both Democrats’ plans call for increases each year, ending in 2016.

Although the county and state conversation on the topic differs only slightly, Schauer said whole issue is “just common-sense economics.”

When working families have more to spend on things like gas, groceries, and clothes for their kids, it creates demand, he said in a recent release.

“And when demand increases, small businesses grow and hire more workers. Minimum wage workers have waited long enough for a raise. It’s time to do what’s right for our families, our businesses, and our economy by raising the minimum wage,” Schauer added.

Despite the push from many on the left, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder said his future opponent’s proposal is “a significant hike and could pose real challenges,” according to his office.

Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel, speaking on the governor’s behalf, said state minimum wage policy is an area that requires careful consideration and may have unintended consequences. “(Snyder) is going to stay focused on creating (an) environment for more and better jobs and the resulting economic growth that leads to increased wages,” said Wurfel. “There are so many other unique, innovative and/or real ways the governor and administration are helping address the environment around this issue, too – from the Community Ventures and the Pure Michigan Business Connect programs to early childhood education and the Pathways to Potential program.”

Schauer’s proposed $9.25 minimum wage would cover all state workers, while Woodward’s county initiative is restricted to county workers and contractors. The commissioner said while most within the county make at least $10 or above, there are many — within the Parks department, he said — who make around $8.50 an hour and would benefit from his resolution.

“It would most-immediately affect our contracted workers,” he said.

In support of Woodward’s resolution, county contractor and Hazel Park native Lewis said just ten years ago, the cost of living was cheaper by far. Now, he’s surprised that a bottle of Pepsi costs as much as $2, he said, adding how flummoxed he was as to how people making the minimum wage could even afford to live.

He blames legislators, and one mistake he said made it even worse for metro Detroiters — electing Kwame Kilpatrick.

Those on social media weren’t as accepting of those in low-paying jobs, which many said weren’t adequate to support a family. The Oakland Press Facebook commenter Sherry Lazdinsh said If someone is supporting their family on minimum wage, she has a message: “... you’re welcome. The food and medical care you’re probably getting is from all of us tax payers. You work minimum wage because you put in minimum effort.”

Oakland County Deputy Executive Bob Daddow said he would not be commenting on Woodward’s resolution because it is incomplete.

“He knows better than to introduce a resolution like this without any financial analysis and support attached,” Daddow said. “That’s a resolution I would expect from Detroit, but not a longtime commissioner.”

He added Woodward’s resolution shows no study or fiscal note on the cost of the increases charged back to the county by contracting companies, but declined to comment on his opinion of the statewide discussion on minimum wage increases.

“As soon as he provides the information that supports his position, we’ll have a position,” he said.

The next Board of Commissioners public meeting will be 9:30 a.m. Dec. 12 in the Board of Commissioners auditorium, 1200 N. Telegraph Road, Pontiac.